Bleeding Moon
by Nuit Songeur
Summary: Hama has never before lost control over her victims. Except one, on the night the moon bled and died.


**A/N:** This was my entry for atlaland's fanfic challenge: Red Moon/Dead Moon. It won Mod's Choice, which I'm proud of since I have won anything there as of yet- fanfic wise. Anyways, the idea was to write something from the point of view of a character not involved with the siege of the North Pole but was still affected when Zhao killed the moon. I went with Hama and chose something moderately canon.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, or the Holy Bible.

**Warnings:** Slight season three spoilers.

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**Bleeding Love  
**By: Nuit Songeur

"…_and the full moon became red like blood." _-Revelations 6:12

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Hama breathed deeply, invigorated by the crisp night air. She felt her old body strengthen in the light of the full moon. Closing her eyes, she stretched her pale fingers in front of her as the moon's power flowed through her veins.

Time for her next victim.

She waited on the outskirts of the forest, a predator watching for its prey. It wasn't long before she felt the vitality pull of another's blood pumping through their vessels. Hama zoned in on the life force, feeling around for its identity rather than puppeting them just yet. She discovered it to be Old Man Ding.

"Poor soul," Hama whispered to herself, smirking. "The Fire Nation should have never crossed Hama."

She flexed her fingers, and he was suddenly hers for the taking.

His first reaction was a sharp intake of breath followed shortly by a muted squeak, a gasp of surprise and terror. Then, she felt him struggle against her hold, trying to wriggle from her binds. But it was futile; he was _her_ puppet, and as the puppetmaster, Hama marched him forward to his awaiting cell. She felt his weak physical protests and his throat constricting with his screams as she kept his mouth sealed shut.

Hama let loose her witch's cackle, and it rang through the forest, bouncing off the trees in all directions. In response, the man's attempts at screaming increased. Such futile attempts.

She marched him through the forest as he slowly ascended up the mountain, one foot in front of the other. Hama smirked, puppeting the old man to his purgatory with the rest of those pitiless Fire Nation citizens.

The Fire Nation should have never crossed Hama.

Suddenly, the sky grew red, tinting everything in a ruddy glow, and Hama's magnificent power faded from her. Hama gasped and stumbled back a few steps from her perch. She turned her wide, gray eyes up at the night sky to see… the moon bleeding.

Tui, the great spirit, was dying. The power she granted her Waterbenders had disappeared. Hama could no longer bloodbend now that Tui had shed her blood.

Hama was panting, breathing heavily as she clutched at her throat.

It couldn't be… The Fire Nation couldn't have _won_.

Old Man Ding took his chance and bolted away from the mountain as fast as his bony legs could carry him, all the while shouting, "Witch!" Hama paid him no mind as she stared solely at the moon, her bleeding moon. Her fingernails dug into her shriveled skin to the point where Hama felt her own blood letting. This too, she ignored.

After a few minutes of wailing, the moon's natural pale light bloomed again into existence. Hama's noises of distress ceased and she removed her hands from her neck, smiling broadly. Pain receded from her chest as a great sense of relief washed over her. She breathed again, filling her lungs to their fullest capacity.

The moon was safe.

Again, she stretched her hand before her, searching for the retreating victim. He wasn't too far away, only managed less than a hundred yards. Before he could go any further, her fist clenched and Old Man Ding was, once more, at her command. She continued to march him toward the mountain, one foot in front of the other.

But the relief was soon gone. Not even a minute had passed before Hama was suddenly overcome with inexplicable exhaustion. She lost control of Old Man Ding and the entire world was black. She could see nothing, not even light from the full moon. Everything was bathed in darkness, as if abruptly plunged into oblivion.

Hama screamed, a ghastly shriek that echoed throughout the forest.

She was on the ground, rolling and pulling at her hair. Her Fire Nation robes flung about her in the dirt. Loose brambles and grass caught onto her. But Hama was screaming so much, she didn't notice what would have originally caused her discomfort.

"Gone… gone! Dead… gone… Oh, Tui!" Hama moaned despairingly.

Hama thrashed until all of her energy finally ebbed from her and she was left lying on the ground, heaving. Her lips formed incoherent words, soundless in the darkest of all nights.

The moon was dead.

Eventually, Hama's eyelids slid closed and a gentle numbness lulled her into a state of rough sleep.

She was awoken approximately an hour later by the full brightness of a single light. She opened her eyes to see the moon shining down on her. Hama blinked at it, surprised, and stiffly clambered back on her feet, gazing at it with utter wonder.

The moon had died. So why then…

Hama noticed her watebending powers had returned to her. She looked down at her hands, bewildered, and felt the chi newly flowing through her body. It felt… youthful.

Looking back up to the sky, Hama concluded that the moon was reborn. This was her reincarnation. She was a new moon.

_Yue._

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There you are! I hope you enjoyed! Please review!

**_-NuitSongeur_**


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